Ravichandran Ashwin breaks Muttiah Muralitharan's 18-year-old record in 100th Test

Veteran Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin had a memorable outing in his 100th Test as he picked a five-wicket haul against England on Day 3 and helped India win the game by an innings and 64 runs on Saturday, March 9. The 37-year-old registered figures of 5/77 in 14 overs during the fifth Test at Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharamsala, as India clinched the series 4-1.

Earlier in the first innings, Ashwin picked 4/51 and registered figures of 9/128 in the game, making him the bowler with the best match figures in his 100th Test. Notably, legendary Sri Lankan spinner Muttiah Muralitharan held the record previously with figures of 9/141 in his 100th Test vs Bangladesh in Chattogram in 2006.

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Furthermore, Ashwin also registered his 36th five-wicket haul in the longest format and surpassed legendary wrist spinner Anil Kumble to pick the most fifers for India in Tests. He also levelled Sir Richard Hadlee on the third spot in the list of most fifers in Test history and is only behind Shane Warne (37) and Muralitharan (67) on the list.

Ashwin also finished as the leading wicket-taker of the series

Earlier, he also completed 500 Test scalps during the third Test against England in Rajkot and became the second-fastest bowler to achieve the landmark in 98 Tests. He also finished as the leading wicket-taker of the series with 26 wickets to his name from five matches at an average of 24.80 and an economy of 4.13.

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Transitioning back to the match, India took a massive lead of 259 runs in the first innings as Shubman Gill (110) and Rohit Sharma (103) starred with hundreds. In reply, England were bundled out for 195 in their second innings and lost the game by a massive margin of an innings and 64 runs. Kuldeep Yadav was adjudged Player-of-the-Match for picking 7 wickets and scoring 30 runs in the game while Yashasvi Jaiswal was given the Player-of-the-Series award for being the leading run-scorer with 712 runs to his name coming in nine innings at an exceptional average of 89.